River
The Yamato River: 1 Live Camera in Japan
The river that gathers the water of the Nara basin, cuts across the Ikoma hills and reaches Osaka Bay, on a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport live stream. Much of its course runs through built-up city.
What you can see
The Yamato is the drain of the Nara basin. The Saho and every other river in the basin feed into it, and it leaves through the narrow gap between the Ikoma and Kongo ranges into the Osaka plain. The feed includes points on the Saho and other tributaries.
Its westward course is something people built. The old Yamato ran north across the Osaka plain and joined the Yodo; after repeated flooding, the channel was moved west in 1704. What is on screen is that channel.
Which is why the lower river runs straight, with the city right up against both banks — nothing like the meander of a river left to itself.
Cameras you can watch now: 1
1 video, 0 still. Tap one to open it in the camera list.
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Stream cover
Yamato and Saho Rivers
Nara / Osaka · River
They gather the Nara basin, cut through the Ikoma hills and reach Osaka Bay. A long stretch runs through built-up areas.
When to watch
On an ordinary day this river reads best in the daytime. It runs through the middle of a city, so people and bicycles pass along the embankment and trains cross the bridges. The surroundings move more than the water does.
It rises in the rainy and typhoon seasons. Because the basin collects first and then passes through one narrow gap, the lag between upstream rain and downstream rise is unusually readable. Even so, take evacuation decisions from your local authority.
The feed rotates between points, is experimental, and can stop without notice.
If it isn't showing
Before 1704 this water flowed into the Yodo. Read alongside the Yodo River, the pair show where the Osaka plain drains.
Elsewhere in the region: the Kino and Kumano, the Yura, and further west the rivers of Hyogo.
Where to find The Yamato River
Agencies publishing the cameras on this page
- MLIT river live streams (Government Standard Terms 2.0) — Official site
The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.